Conferencia — Leonora Carrington y Remedios Varo: colaboraciones mágicas, a cargo de Tere Arcq

Summary of the Subtitles (Creative Focus + Concepts)

A conference at MALVA (23rd anniversary and related museum events) features a lecture connecting the work and “magical collaborations” of Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. Both are Latin American–bound surrealist artists who lived in exile in Mexico during and after World War II.

The talk frames their artistic practice as an interweaving of:

• Esoteric systems: tarot, astrology, alchemy, kabbalah
• Catholic mysticism
• Mexican ancestral magical traditions, especially through networks of exiled artists

The lecture stresses that their “collaboration” was not literal co-painting. Instead, it involved shared interests, mutual influence, and parallel study—leading to artworks that synthesize multiple symbolic systems into richly imagined visual worlds.

Artistic Techniques, Creative Processes, and Ideas Shown/Described

1) Cross-Cultural “Magical Synthesis”

• Combining Celtic and medieval symbolic systems with Mexican magical and pre-Hispanic motifs.
• Reading sacred mythology across cultures, including:
  • “white goddess” figures
  • syncretic ideas around death and underworld rituals

2) Esotericism as a Research Methodology

Esoteric belief-systems are treated as structured frameworks for creative work, including:

• Tarot, including feminist tarot traditions
• Astrology, used to plan creative acts around celestial events
• Alchemy, where transformation processes become visual metaphors
• Kabbalah and other occult doctrines

The talk emphasizes studying magic/occultism anthropologically, not only as performance.

3) Writing and Performance as Part of the Artistic System

• Producing stories and plays using surreal methods, including exquisite corpse–like collaborative writing.
• Using themes of gender and identity fluidity as creative material, such as:
  • characters transforming
  • human–animal hybrids appearing

4) Ritualized Domestic Space → “Alchemical Laboratory”

Domestic spaces (kitchens/workshops) are recast as laboratories of transformation:

• cooking, brewing, and “spells” paralleled with making art
• everyday actions becoming staged moments of enchantment

5) Alchemical “Process” Encoded Visually

• Painting presented as staged transformation sequences (e.g., nigredo/putrefaction → purification → gold).
• Objects and figures represent occult transformations rather than serving only naturalistic depiction.

6) Specialized Material/Technique Practices (Especially Remedios Varo)

• Careful, stepwise preparation:
  • preparatory sketches
  • tracing
  • layered work with gesso
  • incisions that allow paint depth and tactile texture
• Layering and multi-technique complexity:
  • up to ~15 different techniques in one painting (as described)
• Handmade pigment creation:
  • mixing own pigments
  • using egg tempera (egg yolk + water) for jewel-like brilliance

7) Texture and Surface Effects

• Tools used for surface/optical effects:
  • sponges to create texture and optical variation
  • incisions to carve or raise visual depth

8) Tarot Material Experimentation

• Creating tarot on unusual substrates, such as:
  • a tarot card executed on hippopotamus bone
• Additional arcana studies in notebooks are mentioned.

9) Crystals as “Charged” Creative Inputs (Varo)

• Crystals are repeatedly emphasized as being kept/carried with intention (e.g., full moon).
• The talk proposes (supported by described experimentation) that crystals may affect:
  • surface/energy transfer
  • resulting visual effects in incised paintings

10) Renaissance Influences + Compartmentalized Narrative Imagery (Carrington)

• Tempera technique used to achieve Renaissance-like tonal qualities.
• Vignette compartmentalization reminiscent of illuminated or miracle narratives.
• Cross-pollination with Northern Renaissance fantasy (e.g., Bosch referenced).

Ancillary Creative/Event Content Mentioned

Museum programming includes:

• touring the MALVA collection
• child-oriented storytelling/tales
• open-air music
• exhibitions linked to current programming (e.g., “Yula Kosich Intergalactic”)

A new acquisition is highlighted:

• Carrington’s Dagobert’s Distractions

Named Creators / Contributors Featured

• Teresa Wulderoni
• Eduardo Constantini
• Nora Man de Gar Funkel
• Tere Arcq (speaker/host of the main lecture)
• Ana Distasi (introduces a talk on recognition/market consolidation; “senior vice president and director of Latin American art at SODE”)
• Casal (consultant “Bueno,” thanked)
• Marita García (thanked for invitation)
• Cecilia Alemani (referenced via Venice Biennale connection and Carrington literature)
• SODE and SODEVIS (institutional support/sponsorship referenced)
• Solorga (open-air music)
• Yula Kosich (referenced via exhibition title)
• Max Ernst (Carrington’s partner; early surrealist figure)
• Renato Leduc (Carrington’s contact/figure connected to her Mexico escape)
• Chiqui / Emérico (Varo’s husband; photographer; namesake referenced)
• Katy Orna / José Orna (exile community members referenced)
• Gunter Gerzso (“Wuntergerso”; key contributor via library and community support)
• Benjamin Péret (“Peret”; Varo’s partner; translator connected to Mayan texts)
• André Breton (referenced as surrealism’s figurehead)
• Giorgio Gurdjieff (spelled variously; reference to an esoteric system)
• Peter Uspensky (listed in MALVA collection context as Russian mystics)
• Grillot de Givri (Garner/Gibri book reference; French occult research cited)
• Kurt Seligmann (Seligman) (occult/tarot reference cited)
• Edward (“Edouard”) Sure (author mentioned regarding syncretic comparison of Quetzalcoatl)
• Diego Rivera and Wolfgang Campalani (pre-Hispanic restoration mentioned)
• Susan Ne (mentioned via a colleague highlighting a book about Carrington)
• René? / Loretune? (“Loreturné” mentioned as an exile anthropologist/archaeologist; name appears inconsistently)